Augustus Williamson Bradford

Bradford, Augustus Williamson, 1806–81, Civil War governor of Maryland (1862–66), b. Bel Air, Md. As a delegate to the 1861 peace conference in Washington, he strongly pleaded for the Union and became the Union party candidate for governor of Maryland. Elected by a large majority, partially as a result of intimidation at the polls by Union soldiers, Bradford served from 1862 to 1866, assuring federal control of the state. In 1862 and 1863 he appealed for volunteers in a state-equipped local militia that helped turn back Confederate invasions of state territory. Denying that the federal government had the power to free the slaves in Maryland, he called a state convention in 1864 that framed a new constitution abolishing slavery.